Convenience outlet



Feb.`24, 1931. M. N. RUSSELL 1,794,250

coNvENEwcE OUTLET Filed Dec. 22, 1926 v V r dumm,

Patented Feb. 24, 1931 mfr-gp iip MENT mi: FME f MARIN;3Uss`nLL,oiievnneneniinw YORK, Seienoamo ness & SEMOURIINC., d .orsYRAcU-smnnwYon-K, A coRPoRAT'ronoF NEW YORK oo Nviiiilniion OUTLET 2.)Sen furthembjeef tf Aum invention# consiste in the provision of aor'npfzctkcn'vem ience voutletfor fixtureano'p'ies in"`Whioh a pair of'springe are adapted for'opeition With the blades of a p'a'rallelh'ladedattachlengthtransverse tothe length of the bla-'des 'and `being supportedfdiretly 'frin tninal Linenibe'rs.

Othernnd further obj cts "of 'the f' invention 3o 'will be moreapparentfto'those skilled in the Cfr of the appended elai'ms IYv'vithoutl`departing vfromtlie ISpirit'4 of in feiition. InSaid (drawing:

AFigure 6, is a perspective 'view 'of the 'convenience outlet.V 'Under''certain conditions it is` found highly desirable to vprovide theCanopies of'light lixvtures with convenience outlets. lBy sofdoing 5:,

"oonvenience'outlet 'mounted inthe canopy of o5 'a'iixtnre' isino're'readilyfaicoessible and isat a lmore convenient heightv than thoseusually 'a1'- ra'n'ged in lthe'loa'selooar'd or near there.

In the'copendingapplioation oit-Don. N. Thompson Serial No.'93,800,filed' March 10, 'ze 1926,A for lighting iiitu're is di'soloeeda-orin @fall-porcelain lightingiixture to rwhich it is 'preferred tofattachthe' [convenience outlet of the present invention. The drawingsshow the convenience' outlet 'attached to such 'a iX- Vture 'b'ut'itis'to'be understood that it may "equa1ly`vv'e1l befattached to variousothei1 typesof fixtures having a canopy formed of insulatingfmaterialorhaving aninsert of ins'ulatinginaterlal 1n the Canopy.

` Referring to'the "drawing, lit *will* be 'seen thatr the fixtureColnpriSes a 'can-opy 16, ellipti- "Calin sliap'eand adaptedtobefattached to an outlet l' loo'X means "of an adapter `Such as l1.rOnftl'ietfaoeoftlie canopy'a braolret'supg5, poi'tsitheooket ltoreceive/a` lamp, which socket is provided with a 'pull clminconvenientlyoperated by a i pendant vfor turn ing tli'eilight on"a'nd"of'f. Beneaththefhrafoliet,

-Supporting'tli'es'oolet,4 the fao-e of the Canopy wi is- Substantially*iiat asfsli'own `rat "lei-'and is the back of the canopy providedtoreve'fthe adjustable adapter 11. A suitable opening 19 leads from therecess 18 to the socket for the passage of wires such as 2O from thesocket to terminals onthe convenience outlet to be later described.Preferably the wires 2O pass beneath the adapter 11 and out thru apassage 21 and then to passages 17 and thence to the terminals.

The convenience outlet per se is a composite structure formed on theinsulating base plate 22 which comprises, essentially, a central squareportion 23 and the two wings 24. A5- tached to the base plate but spacedtherefrom and of the same shape4 and substantially the isaine size isthe cover vplate 25. The spacer 2G of insulating material is arrangedbetween the central portions of these two insulating plates and 25. Theyare attached together by a hollow rivet 28 which passes thru themain orbase plate 22, the spacer 26the cover plate 25 and a niet-al reinforcingstrip 29. This reinforcing strip has one end reduced and bent at rightangles as shown at 30 and passing thru a hole 31 in the three insulatingpieces. This bent end together with the rivet prevents any relativerotation of the three insulating members while the rivet serves to holdthem together. A hole 32 passes centrally thru the insulating membersand a smaller threaded hole 33 in alignment therewith thru the metalreinforcing member. rl"his latter hole is adapted to receive thethreaded end of a screw 34 which passes thru the canopy plate betweenthe slots 15 and securelylholds the outlet assembly in position with theinner face of the square por.- tion 23 of the base plate securelyagainst a central rib 35 projecting into the recess 16 in which theoutlet is mounted. It will be seen that the screw draws the reinforcingmetal plate 29'down against the insulating parts and'assists inclamping-them more.:

tightly together. Rotation-of the outlet assembly in respect tothe'canopy is j'nevented by the engagement of the edges of the plates Yl l I 5 seen that this projection' 47 is opposite the wall 48 of thepassageway 15l and is so close 22 and 25 with the walls of the recessk16. Y

On the side of the main insulating plate 22 facing the front ofthecanopy are attached the two metal strips 36. These have flat wings 37which lie along the extensions of the insulating plate and are attachedthereto by the hollow rivets 38. ANear the end VAof cach of the wings 37is arranged a. terminal screw 39 threaded thru the wing and theinsulating base plate and adapted to receive service Vwires which conveycurrent to the convenience outlet and the lamp socket. Between Y theseVscrews 39 and the hollow rivets are out from the wings 37 to=`Ythewires.`

the smaller screws 40 similarly attached and adapted to receive thewires 20leading to the lamp socket. By this means the lamp socket is putinto permanent connection with the service wires. Suitable lugs 41 may be struck assist 1n attaching carries on its inner face a contact spring43.

As best seen in Figures 4 and 6 these contact v springs comprise stripsof spring material of substantially the same length and width as theContact supporting plates 42.l The middle portions of these contactsprings-are bowed, as shown at 44, so that only the ends Contact withthe supporting plates. The ends of the supporting plates remote fromtheir attachment to thewings 37 are provided with means whereby the endsof the contact springs may be attached thereto. Conveniently, portionsof the supporting plates are ypunched up to form rivets 45 to pass thruopenings in the springs and secure them rigidly against the supportingplates. Similar rivets may be struck thru the opposite ends of thesupporting plates` but do not passthru the contact springs. The innerends of the springs have a rectangular portion removed from one cornerso that the two right angled walls 46 engage this, rivet. This preventsany great flattening of the spring or any movement about the rivet 45 ina direction toward the insulatingbase plate.

When the receptacle is mounted in the canopy the central bowed portionsof the contact springs project into `the paths of the yplug blades whenthey pass thru the passages 15, as

'best shown in Figure 2, and the center of each -bowed portion isprovided witha'struck-up projection 47 to be received in the usualindentation in the end of the plug blade to prevent the blade fromjarring loose. It will be thereto that the spring must be pushed asideby the blade in passing, thus insuring a tight In wiring a' receptacleprovided. with the present form of convenience outlet the socket isfirst wired, the wires brought out thru the opening 19 and beneath theadapter and are attached to the screws 40 on the convenience outletwhich has previously been Vremoved from the canopy.l The service wiresYAare then attached to the convenienceroutlet bymeans of the screws 39.The screw 34 is then inserted to secure the convenience outlet to thecanopy and the canopy is then attached to the outlet box in the usualmanner.

It will be seen that the particular arrangement of Contact springsenables the provision of an extremely thin convenience outlet which canbe thus arranged in a very shallow canopy. The blades of the attachmentplug pass by the springs and even beyond the surface on which they aremounted. The whole device is readily formed from punchings of insulatingsheets and metal and the whole is secured together by five rivetingoperations.J The wings of the cover plate 25 are slightly wider thanthose of the inain base plate so that when the device is in position thecover plate fills up the opening` of the recess 16 with the eX- ceptionof the entrance of the grooves 17 therein so that no live parts areexposed at the back of the canopy. The rib 35 passes between andeffectively separates the contact springs so that there is no chance ofarcing between the same. The main insulating plate abuts the lower faceof the rib and prevents arcing around this rib. Adequate protection isthus given in every respect.

Having thus described the invention, whatL is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. ln a convenience outlet. in combination, a base of .insulatingmaterial, metal wing attached to one face thereof, a contact carryingportion integral with said wing and in a plane at right angles thereto`a bowed contact spring having its ends in engagement with said portion,and means near the center of the outer edge of said spring to guide aplugblade over the bowed face of the spring and` away from said Contactcarrying portion.

Q. A contact assembly including a conducting contact support having alsubstantially Hat face. a bowed contact spring having its end portionsagainst said face, one of said end portions being secured to said face,and means on said face to guide the other end portion for movement alongsaid face when the spring is flexed.

3. A Contact including a substantially rectangular strip of metal havingits center portion slightly bowed out of the plane of the ends. a guidelug extending from substantially the center of one of the long sides ofthe strip and being bent toward the plane of the end portions.

el. A Contact assembly including in cembinati'on, an L-shaped conductorstrap, one leg thereof adapted to be secured to abase, a terminal onsaid leg, the other leg being in a plane at right angles to said firstleg and having a substantially flat face. a contact spring formed of a.strap of spring material or" substantially the size of the face, the endportions of said spring being in engagement with said face and thecenter portion bowed tion and at right angles thereto and to the sheet,said supports facing each other, a contact spring on the facing side ofeach support, said spring engagiim the support at its end portions andbeing bowed away at the middle portion, one end of said spring beingsecured to said support, a cover plate of insulating material, a spacerand a reinforcing member, said cover plate covering the ends of saidscrews and being spaced from said base sheet said spacer and means tosecure said base sheet, spacer, cover plate and reinforcing membertogether.

6. A contact assembly for convenience outlets inclnding in combination,a conducting support having a substantially flat face, a contact springextending along said face, engaging the same with face contact at theends and bowed away at thev center, means securing one end of saidspring to said support and means on said support engaging the other endof said spring to prevent rotation about the fastening means when anengaging contact moves transversely of said spring.

In testimony whereof I hereunto atix my signature. MARK N. RUSSELL.

